Throat mechanism for statistical card machines



Nov. 11,1952 w. WOCKENFUSS THROAT MECHANISM FOR STATISTICAL CARD MACHINES Filed Sept. 1. 1949 INVENTOR. lfilljezm Wackezzfmssa Patented Nov. 11,. 1952 f THROAT MEClIANISM Foa STATISTICAL CARD MACHINES William Wockenfuss, Union, N. J., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Burroughs Adding Machine Company, a corporation of Michigan Application September 1, 1949, Serial No. 113,509

1 Claim. (01. 271-44) This invention relates to improvements in statistical card machines and has particular reference to a throat mechanism therefor.

An object of the invention is to prevent the accumulation of fibre particles or the like on one of the elements which form the card throat and thu eliminate possible jamming of cards at said throat which otherwise might occur by reason of such accumulation.

Another object is toproduce a wiping action upon a surface of a card as it passes through the throat, by the provision of a member which coacts with the throat plate and which is in the form of a helix. 7

The above and other objects will appear more clearly from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the inventive idea; but it is to be expressly understood that saiddrawing is employed merely to facilitate the description of the invention as a whole and not to define the limits thereof, reference being had to the appended claims for this purpose.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal section through a card feed mechanism, taken on the line l-l of Fig. 2, and showing the present invention v applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

The invention is shown in its application to a card feed mechanism in which the card magazine or chute 5 is arranged in an inclined position and the cards are fed downwardly to the feed rollers 6 by any suitable and well known type of picker mechanism including the knives 1. Recessed in the upper surface of the chute 5 is the usual adjustable throat plate 8 and cooperating therewith is a device for forming a throat through which the cards 9 are fed by the picker mechanism.

Said device is mounted upon a supporting plate M to which are suitably secured the opposed guide members H grooved to receive the flanges [2 of an adjustable block I3. Mounted above said block in the bearing I4 also carried by the plate I0 is a micrometer adjusting screw having threaded engagement with said block 13 so as to enabl adjustment of the latter in its guides I l to v.regulat" the position .of. the roller l6 relative to the throat plate 8', said roller being journalled for free' 'rotation in the lower depending ends of the side plates ll secured to the block l3 by means of screws 18. A locking screw [9 extending through the block and threaded into theplate I0 is utilized to secure said block in adjusted positions. A card supporting plate 20 is secured at 2| tothe upp'e'ri ends of the guides II and is arranged in sub stantial alignment with the throat formed by the plate 8 and roller IS, with the card engaging surl, face of said plate tangential to the periphery of Said plate forms an abutment for the. 7

is well known that such frictional contact, when 4- v employing a plain surfaced roller, causes fibre particles on said remote surfaces of the cards to be loosened therefrom and to accumulate on said. roller to an extent which will sooner or later form; an obstruction thereon to the free passage of a" card through the throat, which obstruction reduces the size of the throat opening with the result that a card jam is inevitable.

To avoid such accumulation upon the element l6 and thus maintain the throat opening constant at all times, said element is made in the form ofa helix so that it is provided, in effect, with a plu- Y rality of spaced card engaging surfaces with in- With this construction, as a[, card is fed into the throat its frictional contact with the surfaces of the helix will rotate the roller and the latter, in so doing, will have a wiping tervening grooves.

action upon the engaged surface of the card. This wiping action, which is lateral with respect to the direction of feed of the card because of the helical formation of the roller, will dislodge any 7 loosened particles of fibre from the card surface and, at th same time, shift said particlesso that they will pass from the contacting surfaces of the roller and enter the intervening grooves thereof from whence they will ultimately fall. Therefore,

such particles will not be permitted to accumulate upon the surface of the roller so that the possibil ity of a card jam due to such accumulation will be eliminated.

What is claimed is:

In a statistical card feeding mechanism, a card magazine having an inclined bottom upon which cards are stacked, a throat plate'mounted in said bottom, a supporting structure at the feed end of said magazine and adjacent an edge of said throat plate. and including opposed guide numbers, a

3 block supported by said guide numbers for adjustment relative thereto and to said throat plate, means to adjust said block, side plates secured to said block for adjustment therewith, a roller freely journaled in said side plates and having a, spiral groove in its surface said roller combining with said edge of the throat'plate to form a throat for the passage of a card, and card feeding means operable to feed cards through said throat the fed cards frictionally engaging and rotating said roller to cause sweeping of the card surface by 4 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 750,319 Tabbett Jan. 26, 1904 1,174,984 Huneke Mar. 14, 1916 1,232,459 Clark July 3, 1917 2,016,711 Ford Oct. 8, 1935 2 ,464,569 Ford Mar. 15, 1949 2,470,422 Malmros et a1. May 17, 1949 

